There’s one piece of advice I continue to offer my daughter. Learn all there is to know before making a decision, especially an important one. Doing so means never having to regret the outcome, whatever it might be. While there’s no guarantee of favorable results, there’s some satisfaction in knowing it was an informed decision.
I was certain I’d be done with media coverage of presidential politics on Inauguration Day. My husband was counting on it. Over a year later, I’m still on tenterhooks as to the outcome. Is Trump in for the long haul? Or will he be history after the 2018 mid-term elections?
The television playing in the background is pretty much a staple in our household. With too much to do, I can’t usually sit to focus long enough on what’s playing. However, the droning voices make for comfy companions in the humdrum world of this housewife. These days, I’m well acquainted with many, if not all, of the players. Better known as the mainstream media pundits.
Like any normal, red-blooded American, I have my favorite anchors, reporters and journalists. And like many, I could spew venom at some whose arguments run counter to the red, white and blue. I’ve gone so far as to wish them God-speed to some far corner of the universe … in not too lady-like terms.
These days there’s an increased frenzy to the news. Author Michael Wolff has set a match to the White House and all its occupants, past and present, with his tell-all “Fire and Fury.” That Wolff was allowed such close proximity to Trump and all who occupied the inner sanctums of his empire is, in itself, unimaginable. That they shared gossipy tidbits about The Boss is insane.
Trump has been the subject of other books; many written before he occupied the Oval Office. While none may be as titillating as “Fire and Fury,” they contained substantive information about the moral character of the man who would-be president. They helped solidify my inclination NOT to cast my vote for the Republican candidate.
The sketchy characters with whom Trump had been affiliated in his business dealings, continue to cast a long shadow over his presidency. Russian oligarchs and mafia-associated cronies seem part and parcel of the mess in which Trump now finds himself entangled. Allegations of money-laundering may be the president’s umbilical cord to Putin.
Trump’s misogynistic treatment of women is a total turn-off. Men like him give me the heebie-jeebies. I wouldn’t want such a man anywhere near my daughter. So why would I want him for our president?
It’s my fervent hope that those who didn’t school themselves on the “real” Donald Trump the last time around, will not be fooled anew by his “reality TV” stand-in. Too much is at stake — the futures of our children and grandchildren — and the world at large.
For disbelievers of “fake news,” Trump’s dismissive go-to, the day may come when another book scripted by men is deemed “fake news.”
The Bible.
Millie Vierra lives in Issaquah.
